A Warlord's Son
by Prime627
Summary: Megatron didn't want it, didn't need it. Technically, he should have left it where he found it, but it followed him and now he can't let it go. The backstory of a friend's OC. Used with permission.
1. Chapter 1

It was raining acid that night, when the _Nemesis_ docked in Kaon. The war was still pretty young, though one couldn't tell that by the list of the dead. Both sides suffered heavily from the dwindling supply of everything ranging from medical supplies to Energon goodies.

This night in particular was different. Megatron could tell this the instant he walked off the _Nemesis_ to survey the Vehicons as they loaded supplies, of what little was available. Across the warehouse, a few Autobots were scrounging along with the ferals, and instead of shooting them, Megatron laughed quietly. Yes, both sides were feeling the ache of few supplies.

When the Vehicons finished loading all of three crates, stuffed full of random garbage the scouts put together that "could be useful in the future", Megatron turned to board, but something made him stop.

A slight rustle could be heard from the empty crates and garbage strewn around, but when the warlord turned to look, there were no Autobots. Deciding to investigate, he waved on the Vehicons and went into the warehouse, looking into every crate and box until he found it.

The sparkling was small with big optics. His armor was scuffed and ruined, as though he had been kicked around, thrown down streets, and sat through years of acid rain. It was a little mechling, and when he saw Megatron, he reached up, begging.

Megatron's spark ached. He was torn. He couldn't take the sparkling in. It would be another mouth to feed and years before it could do anything for Megatron. But he also couldn't leave it here. It was a baby, just a tiny baby. It would freeze at night and the baby was most likely damp from the rain before the acid and it would be a frozen lump by morning. But the lack of supplies and knowledge of sparkling care made Megatron turn around and walk away.

He darted through the rain, hissing in pain when the acid dripped down his back and into his seams. Upon arriving, drones patted him down, but they stopped when they saw a little mechling toddle through the rain after him, his optics hardened, his armor fizzing, his paint streaming down his frame. He only started crying when he stepped in a puddle and stayed there, the clear puddle turning a sickly orange color.

The drones, as dumb as they can be, felt empathy and darted out into the rain with a towel, wrapping the little sparkling into the towel, suddenly a thought coming to both of them and they looked up at Megatron.

Now that two cons and an unidentified sparling were out there, in danger, Megatron had no choice. He waved them in and the drones ran in and set the sparkling down, checking him over and chittering softly at the wounds the little mechling had obtained by the acid rain.

"Take him to the wash racks. I will find Knock Out."

 **ooo**

Knock Out cleaned the mechling up as good as he possibly could and even did a little bit of repainting of him, turning him a burnt orange instead of rotten green. Megatron watched it all from the doorway of the wash racks, the drones pressed up behind him. The sight of a sparkling brought them incurable hope, and such a large amount of it.

"Well, I did all I could. He looks better, don't you think? I gave him a bath, so he should be good. I'll drop off some blankets and stuff for you to take care of him."

"Can't you take care of him?" Megatron hated the idea of having to take care of a sparkling, a whiny little brat. He already had Starscream, the number one brat.

"No. I don't have the time, or I would. I need you to for me, okay? I'll answer all your questions, but I'm late for a surgery already as it is."

"Very well." And with that, Megatron obtained a sparkling.

 **ooo**

Megatron led the sparkling into his throne room where Starscream stood at the right of the throne. When the Seeker saw the sparkling, he sneered.

"Another one?" He sat on the arm of the throne. "I thought I was your last take-in."

"This is just temporary." Megatron sat on the throne and watched the sparkling run up to climb into his lap, the sparkling grunting at the effort, but finally managing it, leaving Megatron confused and kind of disgusted. "Get down."

And the tone of Megatron's voice, the sparkling froze, then slid backwards before sitting between his pedes.

"Oh, not so friendly. Come on, Megatron. Where's that sweet spark of yours?"

"Dead in its chamber."

"Aww," Starscream sighed, scooting closer and practically in his lap. "He looks sad.."

"He's a sparkling."

No sooner had he said those words, the sparkling at his pedes starting to cry, hot tears coursing down his cheeks. Megatron snatched him off the floor and turned him around and around, looking for injury, but as soon as the warlord set him in his lap, the sparkling stopped crying and was staring up at him. Megatron sighed.

"He likes you," Starscream observed. He started to smile at the warlord. "You have a little friend."

The sparkling nuzzled up to Megatron's stomach, but the mech wouldn't have it. He shoved him at Starscream. "Here. Tell me what to name him."

The Seeker held him, turning him over and over in his servos before shrugging. "You should name him something strong, something scary, you know, to strike fear into sparks. Like Deathbringer, or Rustreign or something. Go with his color."

Megatron sighed as he watched the sparkling squirm in his SIC's grip, then he smiled. "Felix."

"Excuse me?"

"I want to call him Felix."

The Seeker raised an optic ridge at him. "Seriously?"

"I think it's cute."

"Cute?"

"Fitting, I mean."

Starscream shook his helm in disbelief. "Okay. Take Felix."

Megatron sighed as the Seeker left him and he watched the sparkling get comfy in his lap, falling alseep quickly and soundly, to the disbelief of Megatron. Had this sparkling never had a sound recharge? Then he thought not. Outside in the warzone, it was a hard life. There were few neutrals still alive, and any sparklings were becoming feral due to carriers and/or sires being robbed from them, allowing already-feral bots to take in sparklings alongside their litters. Ferals were pests and got into everything. Was this Felix feral as well? Megatron didn't think so. The mechling walked on his pedes and didn't use his servos in the process as well. He also didn't growl and hiss and grunt, suggesting he knew very few words or not at all.

While Megatron was thinking, Felix moved closer and started to let loose a loud purr that vibrated his whole body. Megatron yelped, unsure what was happening until the sparkling woke up partially and mewed pitifully.

The warlord scooped the sparkling up and dumped him unceremoniously on a stack of pillows on the floor by Megatron's berth. The sparkling fell asleep soundly, even more soundly than he had in Megatron's lap.

Finding he needed to clear his helm, Megatron took a walk around the warship, spying Starscream in Shockwave's lab, the one-opticed mech lecturing the youngest Seeker in Megatron's command, but the little femme was always glancing over at Starscream, who was experimenting with acids and bases and metal. Drones and Eradicons walked around, aimlessly and slowly due to the small rations of Energon. They needed to find more Energon and fast...

When Megatron returned to his berth, exhausted, he was startled to find the sparkling had somehow managed to climb into his berth and was snoozing spread-eagle on his pillow. The mech sighed and laid down on the berth, moving the pillow away from him, keeping a sizable distance between him and the sparkling.

But somehow, during the middle of the night, the sparkling rolled into the warlord's belly and slept there for the remainder of the night.


	2. Chapter 2

_**6 Months Later...**_

It was a common sight to see: Megatron walking proudly down the halls, his arms crossed behind his back, his helm thrown back...and behind him? A little sparkling immitating his posture. It made the drones snicker, but only slightly, because if Megatron heard, he would growl, and that could lead to further punishment.

Megatron thought during his walks, as he often did. Starscream wasn't the ideal heir, but Felix was small and like clay. He could sculpt the mech he desired. Starscream was too old for sculpting, too set on one shape, the opposite of what Megatron desired in an heir.

And what better place to train a warlord than the Hall. It was a "common-ground", an area that belonged to no side. There, Decepticons and Autobots poured over shelves and books and data pads and computers side-by-side, the truce unbroken for fear of starting a war where it could explode: all that data, most stored in material fire ate up...if a single shot was fired at a shelf of those ancient books, it would be mere moments before the entire place went up in fire.

Megatron led the sparkling to the Hall, stepping over fallen Autobots and Decepticons alike. Some he knew, others he didn't. Some were drones, some were not. He stepped over the bodies easily, but Felix had a harder time. He climbed over them, struggling and digging his claws into limp husks and then sliding down to the ground to run to the next body. Eventually, Megatron finally knelt and picked him up to carry him the rest of the way into Iacon.

"I forgot about your little legs."

The sparkling giggled up at him.

 **ooo**

The Hall was wide and open, empty for the time being. However, in one corner sat Optimus, reading to a small blue and red youngling that chewed on his digits whenever he thought Optimus wasn't looking.

"Law 50-" Optimus looked at the sparkling to make sure that he was paying attention and drew the digits out of his sparkling's mouth. "Future commanders don't chew their digits. Are you paying attention?"

"Yeth!"

"Yes," Optimus corrected, chuckling.

"Yeth!"

A squealing giggle from Felix drew Optimus' attention to the two of them. "Megatron?"

"I see you are also training a successor."

"A commander."

"Teaching him the rules?"

"Dah!"

Optimus hushed him. "Yes. He must learn them in order to follow them. What are you teaching yours?"

"Might as well join you."

 **ooo**

Hours later, they had accomplished next to nothing. The little commander-to-be still chewed his digits (but he was more skilled at doing it so Optimus didn't reprimand him), and Felix was drawing in the dust, nearly imitating the future commander by sticking his dusty digit in his mouth except Megatron saved him, wiping his digits clean.

Optimus finally gave up. "I think we're going about this the wrong way."

"You think?"

"How do sparklings learn?" The Prime stopped his charge from chewing his digits, putting a servo on the sparkling's servo before he could stuff them into his mouth.

"Well, I dunno, Prime. Perhaps we could find a book about it somehwere." He rolled his optics and he got up, picking up Felix. The sparkling squealed and climbed onto his shoulder to sit while the warlord walked around, pulling off books and datapads from shelves to flip through them. From his selection, he chose two and put the rest back.

Optimus, meanwhile, was setting up a datapad and a projector, the sparkling in his lap wriggling around and grunting as he tried to get onto the floor, but the Prime held him fast. "Ultra Magnus, do cease your wriggling about."

"Starscream was the same way," Megatron remembered. The Prince's creators had to strap him down to any flat surface just to keep him in one place, or they had a length of rope around him. He had often seen the femme Elite in charge of taking care of them walking around, the two Seekers connected through the rope. The other two crowded around her, but the silver Seekerling was always getting drug along behind, his claws sinking into anything in reach for either moments or miles before the femme found out.

Optimus frowned at Megatron, then down at the sparkling. He set him down on the floor and he watched the sparkling sit at the mech's pedes. But not for long. After finding out how lonely and cold the floor was compared to the company and warmth of the Prime, the sparkling started to fuss and beg to be picked up again.

"Ultra Magnus, please make up your mind."

"Ultra Magnus?"

The Prime said nothing as he lifted the sparkling, then he looked at Megatron. "Yes. What have you called your commander?"

"Felix."

The Prime raised an optic ridge, but held his glossa and nodded before coming up with a comment. "Suits him."

"Mhm." Megatron checked the datapads out. Since the librarians had all been killed, the visitors had to do it themselves, and not one datapad turned up stolen. Everything was well maintained, as the Prime had requested. "I leave you now, Prime."

"Very well."

When the warlord was out of hearing range, he growled. "Curse that Prime. I could have snuffed his spark at any moment, but no. He has to show logic and reasoning, doesn't he?"

Felix growled in agreement, learning to hate the Prime to please the warlord. He kicked his pedes and groaned, trying to wriggle out onto the ground. Megatron set him down and continued walking, but at a slower pace and this time cleared the way for his future commander.

"You are to replace Starscream, Felix, when you are older. Do not disappoint me."

The sparkling squealed up at him and ran after his heels.

 **ooo**

Starscream had gone for a flight after the warlord left and was prowling the alleys when he saw Megatron with Felix. He was about to surprise the warlord with his findings of technology and Energon when he heard he was to be replaced by the sparkling.

That thing? It could have been of Autobot origin, and though Starscream was a Vosian Prince, heir to the Vosian throne, he was to be replaced by a _sparkling_ of all things.

He bared his denta and walked quietly back to the ship through the alleys, plotting the death of Felix or at the very least, the removal of a limb. Felix had the spirit of a Seeker. Starscream didn't want to waste such potential. The sparkling even sported partially-formed winglets, suggesting a Seeker in his bloodline. With Seekers and half-bred Seekers such in short supply (and the youngest in the Decepticon's possession so undesired), it was a welcome sight.

Starscream walked to his quarters and sat on his berth, still puzzling and thinking before finally laying down.

 **ooo**

Megatron sat in his throne, reading. Felix was sleeping across his lap, seemingly exhausted from the walk, but every once in a while, the sparkling would open an optic and go back to feigning sleep.

"You truly are a Decepticon."

The sparkling smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Several years later...**_

The war slowed to a halt. Both sides were weak and tired, and communities were slowly rebuilding in the wary tension. There were Decepticon cities and Autobot cities, pooling their supplies and struggling to survive. Megatron visited both, as did Optimus. The two leaders were trying to work to an agreement, but none could be reached, and that frustration built in both frames. Any more and one would often think Megatron would explode.

But he had an outlet, little youngling Felix who was experiencing what all younglings his age face: boundless energy. Ultra Magnus was feeling it too, but when the two mechlings met in person, they acted like their adopted sires, short words, very little physical contact except for a servo shake and dead-on optic-contact. The four mechs never blinked when around each other, and when they continued on, all of them breathed sighs of relief.

"Why can't I be friends with Maggy?" Felix asked once. And the question didn't suggest that Megatron prevented him from making friends with the Autobot. Megatron had often scolded himself for still believing he had a thread of a friendship with the younger Autobot, though the thread was frayed and tired. When the Decepticons gathered themselves and the fighting resumed, he had no doubt the thread would break.

"It's mental things I don't understand."

"Oh..." Felix went back to coloring, laying on his gut that was rapidly disappearing, despite Megatron giving half his ration to the little mechling along with Felix's own ration. Sometimes, if Megatron watched, a drone would dig into his subspace and draw out a small bag of goodies they sometimes made in private, and they would feed it to Felix, who unlike them, needed the Energon for growing. No longer was there a chubby little sparkling that loved to cuddle. Now there was a thin reed of a sparkling, still eager for cuddling, but was frightfully skinny for a sparkling his age. Megatron kept pillows between them to prevent him from hurting little Felix. "Would Knock Out know?"

"That's not in his line of work." Megatron rubbed his face, sighing. He too was frightfully skinny. Everyone was, even on the Autobot side. The only one that didn't look frightening was Starscream, who was skinny to begin with. "Now if you had a question about paint, well...he'd be all over you in five kliks."

Felix giggled, then sat up, grunting at the effort. "Can I play outside?"

"On the landing pad."

The little sparkling looked at him, opened his mouth to object, and then nodded. "Okay."

"Take someone with you."

"Okay." And he got up and walked out.

 **ooo**

Megatron took a stroll outside to collect his thoughts and to just get out of the warship. Felix was wrestling with a few drones, the very drones that swayed Megatron's decision to keep the little sparkling around. The warlord relaxed about that. Those drones, D4V3 and ST3V3 respectively, were highly loyal and trustworthy.

He chose a route through Kaon he took often, hoping for a lucky find like Energon or discarded tech that could be coaxed to life. However, what he found was even luckier.

A bin fell over in front of him, scattering garbage and rotting materials across the walkway in front of Megatron. Inside it struggled a ratty form, belly rounded with parasites. His armor was cracked and ruined, in worse shape than any of Megatron's soldiers, but his determination was that of a healthy mech...or a mech that didn't want to die. It was a sparkling barely older than Felix.

Megatron knelt. He couldn't help himself, and this time needed no swaying of acid rain or drones begging. He scooped the sparkling up and carried him back to the warship. He named him Dagger.

 **ooo**

"You mean I can play with him?"

Felix was tall enough that he didn't need to climb into his sire's lap to see the newcomer, the sparkling's growth stunted for some reason or another Knock Out had tried to explain to him while he pumped the little one full of parasite-killer and fluids. Right now, the sparkling sucked the Energon out of a cube greedily, growling and nipping at Megatron when the cube was pulled away to allow him time to breathe. The sparkling was most offended about that, it seemed.

"Yes, but only when he's better."

"Okay!" Felix smiled and moved closer, touching the paler sparkling. Dagger was blue-grey and needed a bath and a polish, but neither Felix nor Megatron nor even the drones seemed to mind. Dagger didn't acknowledge Felix's presence and instead burped when Megatron pulled the cube away to allow him a moment to breathe. The sparkling was quickly slowing down in his Energon-intake. "He's cute!"

"Mm." Megatron set the empty cube aside and held Dagger against his chest, moving Felix into his lap. Starscream was walking in, dragging behind him a sled of Energon.

"Look what I found outside the warship."

The warlord shot to his peds, nearly dropping Felix in the process. His holding tank gurgled greedily and Felix stared at the high pile of Energon, his optics wide. "You just _found_ it?"

The Seeker nodded and picked up a cube, showing him a strange insignia. It was a crest, a very familiar crest.

It belonged to a Prime, passed down from Matrix-bearer to Matrix-bearer.

Optimus had left them gifts.

"I also found this note."

Megatron snatched the note from the Seeker and opened it, reading while tucking Dagger closer to his chest. He kept Felix out of the Energon with a pede, his optics widening at the words and the signature on the bottom:

 _I found this and lots more while digging an underground base only I and my men know where. We just had it processed. Never thought I would use that machine again. Enjoy, and don't drink too fast._

 _-OP_

"You've really outdone yourself this time, mech." Megatron looked at the pile of Energon. "And thanks for the tip."

 **ooo**

The mining for Energon started immediately. The processors were dusted off and booted up. Quickly, cons returned to their normal weight from the rich fuel. Felix even developed a gut once again, and when the warlord and the Prime passed each other on the streets, there was less tension. Felix, Dagger, and Ultra Magnus even engaged a little more playfully.

And then the war resumed, regretfully. The forming cities pulled back and were eventually destroyed. The thread of friendship Megatron felt for Optimus snapped when the Prime started taking control of Energon mines, only for Megatron to rip them back into his command, leaving the Prime only a fraction of what he and his Autobots originally possessed. Felix and Dagger didn't whine to see Ultra Magnus. Instead, they played together, wrestling and biting and snapping at each other like brothers might.

The whole thing reminded Megatron of the days when he was a gladiator and Optimus just a clerk, both of them spending as much of their time together and play-fighting, only for such teasing to become something much more real and hurtful, deadly even like a poison.

The peace between the storms of war are just as they are: Peaceful. But when they come to an end and the storm brews with even more force, one finds out just how much he has lost...and what he misses most of all.

And for Megatron, that was Orion Pax, the simple days, and the routine of fighting and then meeting up with a meek mech with big ideas for such an insignificant frame.

 **ooo**

When Optimus showed up on the battle field with Elites Mace, Falcon, Onixblade, and mechs Drift and Cometshred, Megatron countered their attacks with Lockdown, twins Fang and Bone, Darkveil, and Soundwave. He had recently rescued Shockwave from the High Council's lab, the purple mech doomed to trudge around the small room with guns for hands. The cost of Shockwave's undying loyalty was but a servo, gladly given. The mech was restricted to inside work, but Megatron was more than willing to let the purple doombringer out to play.

Felix was a teen at this time, as was Dagger. The mechs were inseparable, and relentless in their askings to be trained to fight. How was Megatron to resist? So he let them train with the drones and the few Seekers left, but he was always there, watching and observing from a distance.

Dagger's choice weapons were swords. He was up-close and personal, always in his opponents face. He wanted to see the fear in their optics, wanted them to know exactly who killed them and why. But he never harmed a single chip of paint on the drones with his blades. Before harm could be done, he redirected and instead threw a hug around them, tackling them to the ground.

Felix however could work with anything and seemed to have no preference whatsoever. Megatron was highly impressed with his first son and would tell him so often. But the young mech wasn't interested in praise as Dagger was. He wanted results. Any improvement that could be made was made, and he worked ceaselessly till the point Megatron would have to beg for him to come back to the berth to rest. There, he would praise his sons with words and Energon he finally had a vast supply of and baths. Dagger still loved being rubbed down like he had when he was younger, but Felix was growing apart. He was growing colder, but when they were alone, the mech was a step closer to the sparkling the warlord saved from acid rain.

"Sire?"

The grey warlord would always quickly answer his son, eager to take any communication with the orange mech. "Yes, Felix."

"Why did you save me?"

"I couldn't leave you out there, could I?" At the time, the warlord was waxing Dagger's back, the mech shuddering each time Megatron rubbed over a particularily itchy spot.

"But why though?"

"Because I saw myself in you."

The mech fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

"I saw a lot of myself in you," Megatron confessed.

The next day, Felix changed his color. No more was he rust-orange. He was orange still, but hidden in the hue were grey flecks scattered all over his frame.

"Now you will see more of you in me," Felix said when prompted. A cold glint lit in his optics, like starfire.

Megatron no longer saw a little sparklings needing his protection. No more would he cuddle and coddle. Now he would send his soldiers to war with nothing more than what the drones received: I'll see when you return.

And he always did.

"Looks like I raised you right."

Felix and Dagger would both grin, dented and scuffed, but alive and sharing an impressive amount of kills between them. The Autobots had started calling the two Double Trouble, not fearing them as much as Fang and Bone who each had double the amount of kills as Dagger and Felix, but they kept an optic out for them, especially when rounding a corner or climbing or descending stairs. And the two brothers took full pride in that.

Megatron definitely raised them right.


	4. Chapter 4

Felix slipped through the Vosian city, reborn after the war. So much had happened since the end of the war, since Optimus and Megatron shook their servos in truce, after Halogen died and Astatine rose to power only for Starscream to step down from his throne, his birthright, with his brothers and replace Astatine, sending the mech into hiding. After Felix had been told that he was to replace Starscream, the mech took it to spark and started to go after the Seeker in everything, always a shadow to the lithe silver mech.

And he was being one now.

Starscream walked proudly with his pregnant mate, the new Prime chosen by the Matrix. One of the Seeker's servos was curled around Rodimus' servo, swinging playfully. And straining at the end of the other Seeker's servo was Phoenix, or rather Experiment 490, as her file stated. The file in question was in his servo, comprised of pictures of passages about her, since the museum Felix snuck into didn't appreciate him stealing journal entries. Killjoys, he had called them as they kicked him out. His officer, Prowl, was waiting outside to give him a reprimand before allowing him to take pictures of the entries, but on a very short leash.

 _Don't make me take you back to Megatron. He'll give you a stern talking to,_ Prowl threatened as he waved a short prod in Felix's face, but the mech was not amused. Six times out of ten, the mech didn't use it, and Felix always banked on those odds.

"I don't need you to take me to my sire," Felix had snapped before storming away.

All those times in prison and in and out of a jail cell made Megatron weary (when he remembered who Felix was) and it irritated Felix to see the Elites drag his confused sire in just to sit him down and ramble off the charges Felix racked up _this_ time. The mech would then look at the officers, at Felix, and back at the Elites, and explain to them that he didn't know the mech.

The Dark Energon took a large toll on the poor warlord. It made him weak, confused, and willing to the former Prime's help, who by Primus was still alive. Turns out the old Autobot figured out how to remove the Matrix early instead of dying, which disappointed Felix greatly. He hated the way Optimus spoke around him about his sire.

 _He is just an old mech. Give him time. Someday, he will remember you._

How calming was that? Someday, he'll remember you, or he'll be dead. But the Prime was so certain of this, and he proved it by rubbing the mech's helm very fondly, as if he knew anything about the younger mech.

Fast forward. Felix is a step under a bounty hunter. He either lapped up crumbs the real hunters left, or he beat them to it. He heard tell that Lockdown and Angel were after this little femme, a little miracle that Starscream kept _very_ close to him. Lockdown could only get close through his sidekick, the idiot femme Nightshade. Nobody liked her, and yet there she was, walking by with a High Councilman's robe. It fitted her nice, but she was no Councilman. She was pathetic. Behind her trailed three new sparklings to add to her jumble she already had, and one of them looked like a ghoul with a white face and black body, razor sharp claws already proving their worth by rendering the edge of her robe to ribbons. Starscream paid them no mind, but did give Nightshade a small nod.

Phoenix squeaked as she fell, her grip on Starscream's claws faltering. The Seeker and his mate turned to watch her climb unsteadily to her feet. Seekers waited for their babies to figure out things on their own, not stopping to coddle them like minicons do. _Birds eventually do leave the nest_ was the Seeker saying. How pathetic.

Phoenix sat down instead of walking to her adoptive sire and started crying. Felix made his move, slinking over to the femme and touching her helm lightly. He could easily nab her right then and there, too many bots were watching, too many eagle-optics pinned to his back, and if he tried to outrun them, Starscream would run him down and rip him to shreds. The stories on Earth suggested that in his rage, he pinned a fly to a tree, only piercing its wing in just the right spot that when he retrieved his throwing knife, the fly fluttered away. Such an amazing feat, and Felix didn't want to find out if that was rumor or truth.

Instead, the mech rubbed her helm like Optimus used to and he stood the femme up, singing a song that would set every Seeker listening on edge.

 _I thought of angels_

 _Choking on their halos_

 _Get them drunk on rose water_

 _See how dirty I can get them_

 _Pulling out their fragile teeth_

 _And clip their tiny wings_

At the last line, he made scissoring motions at the base of Phoenix's wings, the "proper" way of taking off a Seeker's wings. She squealed in delight and the Seekers moved in, Starscream ripping her away from the mech and into his mate's arms to bring his claws to bear with the mech. "Felix."

"Yes?"

"What are you doing in Vos?" The mech was High Councilman now. He knew where everybody should be and where everybody was going, but even after knowing that, the next sentence made Felix flinch. "Aren't you supposed to be in prison for three more eons?"

"Megsy bailed me out." Felix shrugged. "I passed my psychic test with Rung. He said I was no longer a threat to society."

"Your _psychological exam_ , you mean? And Rung would never allow a mech such as yourself back into society."

"A grand amount of credits can melt any stone spark."

Starscream's optics widened. "You paid him off?"

Felix shook his helm. "Fortunately, no. I lied on my exam and Megatron had one of his fits and threw the contents of his subspace at the mech and while Rung was cleaning up to hand it back to him, I forged Megatron's signature, slapped the stylus in his palm and proceeded to soothe my sire."

Rodimus growled lowly, setting Phoenix down when she struggled for Starscream. The mech lifted her instead, keeping her close. "And he let you out?"

"Had to. He had no proof Megatron _didn't_ sign it." Felix crossed his arms and looked around. The Seekers were staring him down, very protective of a Seekerling they didn't raise, didn't see, didn't even know. Each Seekerling was priceless, no matter what. Which explains the high price on her little helm...

Nightshade crept up, standing next to Starscream. He shrugged Phoenix onto her and Felix half expected her to tear off. Something was keeping her from reporting to Lockdown. Could those two brats have made up? Lame. Felix preferred them when they wound each other up. "Felix," she greeted. "Why are you always breaking the peace?"

"It's too fragile to begin with." He turned to walk away. "Just wanted to visit my brother."

Dagger had no credits, not much anway. But Starscream would rather deal with Dagger over Felix, and since Felix was frequently in and out of jail, Megatron bailing him out almost always like clockwork, Starscream wanted him close...especially when Phoenix was walking and demanding to be let out into the gardens. Seekers flocked to see her and Rodimus while he sunned himself, rubbing his massive tummy.

Starscream, having nothing left to say, stepped for the mech to walk by. He found his voice as he grabbed the mech's wrist and pressed his lips to Felix's audio. "Stay away from her."

"Wouldn't dream of entering her personal space again."

Dagger didn't live in the grand multi-story bases everyone else did. He had chosen the ugliest, most run-down place to live. Dagger had lost his sense of smell early, probably when he was still an orphan in the allies, so the place was more often than not reeking like the mech had died in there. But there he was, sleeping lazily on the couch, his tummy rounded with rich Energon instead of parasites. Dagger fueled like a King, even on the limited credits given to him. Probably because he had sticky digits and no one could prove that he did it. He seemed to be too fast for the cameras to catch and he seemingly had adhesive for palms. Talk about unfair. Five minutes after Felix did something minorly illegal, Prowl was on his aft about it.

"Dagger." He kicked his brother awake and the blue mech sat up immediately, rubbing his optics with his knuckles.

"I'm up, I'm up."

"Now you are. Hey, I need you to help me."

He took one look at the mech and collapsed again, sighing. "Again? I'm tired of doing stuff illegal. Look at the place I'm living now because of you." He motioned around, sniffing. "Does it reek in here again?"

Felix tried not to notice the rotten Energon strewn about. "How does one so fat miss so much Energon?"

Moments later, Felix was helping his brother clean up, giving the place a real scrub-down and putting the door that had broken off weak hinges back up, temporarily propped up against the doorway to at least offer a little bit of privacy, even though the dirty windows that had been there once upon a time were now smashed. Felix wanted to blame the Vosian teens, but they were better behaved than that.

Dagger was bathed for the first time in probably months, and then the two of them laid down together, staring up at the ceiling.

"What do you need?" he finally sighed, making Felix look over and grin as he launched into his offer of fifty thousand for the Seekerling Phoenix. Dagger held his face and shook his helm. "Noooo, Felix, I don't care how much they promised. Stealing a Seekerling is impossible."

"But worth it." Felix got up and straddled his hips, making the mech look at him. "Think about it. Fifty thousand. That gets you out of this stupid base and into a decent one. That pays off Prowl and the damages I've caused with you."

Dagger's servos rested on Felix's thighs, rubbing absently and he sighed, nodding. "Fine, but you do this alone."

"What if I give you a special treat?"

"Treat?" Dagger's optics brightened. "What _kind_ of treat?"

"Your favorite kind of treat."

The blue mech chewed his lip and nodded a little. "Okay."

Felix chuckled and stood up to hook his servos under Dagger's knees, kneeling in the berth as he put the other mech's legs on either side of his hips and he moved closer, hissing into his audio:

 _Anything you say can and will be held against you_

 _So only say my name_

 _It will be held against you_

 _Anything you say can and will be held against you_

 _So only say my name_

And Dagger did say his name, and only his name...repeatedly.

By the time Felix finished, Dagger was more red in his face than blue and the pregnant clouds Felix had been eyeing between kisses were giving birth to acid rain. Nobody would be outside, except his dumb aft who couldn't stay with Dagger because the mech was more often than not moody after he woke up from his intense overloads. Did Felix feel a little guilty? Sure. For years, they had been raised as brothers, but Dagger was the one to point out they weren't related and Megatron didn't mention _no touchy-feely_ in the strict rules. Felix would have to ask Megatron in detail, even though it was too late.

Felix was addicted to Dagger in a way that he hadn't anticipated. No longer did the femme frames intrigue him. He wanted a sturdier frame to torture. Femmes looked way too fragile. How did they withstand such abuse?

The acid broke down some of the paint on his shoulders and the gorgeous paint color ran down his chest, leaving his shoulders blotchy, exposing the scars he was always painting over.

Doing his work wasn't pretty or worth it sometimes, but it put fuel in his tank and in his storage room.

While Felix thought with his helm down, he stumbled across Lockdown and Nightshade arguing in the alley.

"Why haven't you brought me the child?" Lockdown was growling, pinning the femme against the cold wall and letting acid burn her face and let the silver paint there run, exposing fat grey scars. Her sparklings were hunched in a corner, her tattered robe laying over them as a weak shield.

"I refuse to take her for you. Find someone else or get me another task," she growled. Her optics always shifted over to watch her sparklings, though. If Felix was in her place, he would escape and beat some manners into Lockdown. But then something came very much apparent to Felix.

Lockdown wasn't alone.

Drift was beside the mech, a skinny white servo clamped down under Nightshade's chin to keep her face in the acid trails. The once perky, sweet Autobot had a cold spark, chilled more and more by the minute. War and Lockdown had a thing for damaging mechs, even the good ones.

Felix's watching wasn't unnoticed. First Nightshade noticed him, then Drift's helm swung around, and finally Lockdown peeked out of the corner of his optics.

"Remember what I said to you, Nightshade." He drug his hook down her face and looped the other arm around Drift's hips, walking down the alley, their backs to Felix.

The mech thought about helping the femme, but she scrambled away from the wall and lifted her sparklings, checking them over meticulously before darting by him towards the Hall where Elites checked her over. Starscream marched outside, grabbed her chin, moved her helm from side to side, and then led her in, probably with a good scolding. Felix really preferred the time where they hated each other. If that had still been the case, Nightshade would be on her aft in the rain, and come morning, be blotchy white and grey, just like Felix's shoulders. But her sparklings will be intact, sheltered by her body and her robe she wouldn't dream of using as a shield.

So the orange mech trudged through the rain towards "home", the base of Prowl's choosing, an apartment complex owned by Prowl's own nephew. He lived on the very top. No balcony, all windows locked, and a camera panning through the entire room. But there was heat and AC, so he couldn't complain. The berth was nicer than the cot in his prison cell.

When he lived with Dagger (as it was preferred), both Starscream and Prowl kept an optic on them, but Starscream allowed Felix to move between bases to his preference, so long as one or the other was keeping an optic peeled.

The acid rain continued and Felix leaned against his window sill, watching the rain drip. He sung a few lines before turning in for the night.

 _If heaven's grief brings hell's rain_

 _Then I'd trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday_

 _(I know I'm bad news)_

 _For just one yesterday_

 _(I saved it all for you)_

 _Oh, I want to teach you a lesson in the worst kind of way_

 _Still I'd trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday_

 _(I know I'm bad news)_

 _For just one yesterday_

 _(I saved it all for you)_

 _For just one yesterday_

Phoenix remained on Felix's radar for months afterwards, watching her grow up from a toddler to a teen (since she developed much faster than the average sparkling for unknown reasons). The orange mech prowled around Vos, hoping to spot her. And spot her he did, walking in and out of libraries with piles of books each time. She was a real bookworm, but she was always escorted by Falcon, an Elite with a big spark. How did she make it through her training? Elites always come out cold and dark it seemed, save her and her partner and her partner's mate. All three of them were sweet and gentle (and one of them was a complete wuss, even though he was covered helm to pede tip in ammo).

But one day, Phoenix snuck away from Falcon who was distracted on a museum tour. Felix had hopped on the instant he saw Phoenix and Falcon. The femme was yakking on and on about how she would find out about who she was, but the tour guide skipped that entire section of the museum dedicated to Sketch's work, the mech that had "created" her (by stuffing her in a jar as soon as she was cut from her dead mother's body and passing her off to Optimus before he died. A real help he turned out to be. Starscream was the true mech who made her who she was, but of course he always said Skyfire had a major part in it when all he did was hold the floor down). So both mech and femme slipped away from their wardens (Prowl said he would come with, but got to talking with Falcon, which allowed for a neat escape).

Phoenix was awed to find how many journals there actually were, but Felix had seen them all already. There were only a few pages that actually mentioned Phoenix. None of them talked about her sire or carrier, and they definitely took a dark turn when Sketch started lapsing into depression after finding Experiment 490 was a failure (along with a secret thirty others presumably scattered across Cybertron).

Now was the time to snag her, but Felix couldn't help himself. He sung a few verses that were coming forward. They were oddly suited for this moment.

 _Letting people down is my thing, baby_

 _Find yourself a new gig_

 _This town ain't big enough for two of us_

 _I don't have the right name_

 _Or the right looks_

 _But I have twice the heart_

She spun around and stared at him while he tutted. "I know a thing or two about slipping away from wardens, sweetspark."

"You!"

"Not so loud or you'll get us both found out. You won't find much about Sketch here, princess, but I can take you to someone who will."

That got her hooked. "Who?" She took several steps forward.

"His name's Dagger. He has eyes and ears all over the city." Dagger had eyes and ears in La-La Land, but Phoenix didn't need to know that. "Come on. I'll take you to him. He's in Vos." He offered his servo. "I promise to get you there unharmed."

After that was a different story.

Like the stupid little femme, she took his servo and they ran away. Phoenix was laughing. Felix was not at all impressed. This was the weakest of all escapes.

But hey, he didn't get caught.

Upon arriving at Dagger's, Felix was relieved to both find that it didn't smell and that Dagger must have installed the door properly. He opened the door and waved Phoenix in, finding Dagger scratching his belly that had grown considerably inspite of Dagger's new rationing system. Sometimes, his belly jumped and moved. Felix wondered if he had obtained parasites again from his former life style. It wouldn't have surprised Felix one bit.

"Dagger, this is the femme I was telling you about."

The mech looked up and scrambled to his pedes. "Of course. Uh...why is she here again?"

Felix's smile faltered for a moment. Phoenix was still amused. "You have info on her parents, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" The mech was clearly intoxicated, and judging on the amount of pink cubes scattered around, it was severe. He sat back down and yawned. "Come here, peaches."

The femme skipped over, sitting down beside him. Just how dumb is this femme? Surely she had been taught about the dangers of strangers. Didn't Starscream say anything about strange mechs? About the birds and the bees? And then a lesson that Seekerlings were taught came back to him: _Vos is a safe place_.

This might just turn into the easiest nab of all time.

As soon as Phoenix was situated beside him, Dagger grabbed her chin and chuckled. Phoenix showed the first signs of worry. She gulped audibly. "She looks more like a plaything to me, Felix."

"Don't harm the goods, Dagger."

"Is that really what they told you? 'Don't harm the goods, Felix'," Dagger mocked, laughing as he pushed the femme around to play with her wings. They trembled in his servos. "Sensitive Seeker wings, Felix. We certainly scored."

"Please stop," Phoenix whispered.

"Dagger, you better not put a single scratch into her."

The blue mech stopped and smirked. "I know. You want her first. I get seconds." The mech got up, gave Phoenix's cheek a small swat and told her to stay, then pushed Felix down beside her. "Sing her those lyrics you always sing to me before things get going." He pulled up a chair and smirked as he watched.

Felix looked her over and pinned her down onto the couch, pressing her deep into the cushions as he sung into her audio. She trembled under him.

 _Anything you say can and will be held against you_

 _So only say my name_

 _It will be held against you_

 _Anything you say can and will be held against you_

 _So only say my name (name)_

"Those are the ones," Dagger burbled before passing out onto the floor.

"Thank Primus." He got off the femme, guilt about what he had done weighing heavily in his spark. "Sorry about that. I didn't expect Dagger to be drunk." In all reality, his Prowl-senses were tingling and the thought of spending another day in a prison cell just for Megatron to bail him out again and the charges rack up to add _child molester_ didn't sound appealing anymore. Sure, there was the fifty thousand credits he was throwing away...but what did that mech _want_ with a child? The thought made him sick. He looked at the femme, noted the scuffs on her thighs from when he pressed against her, and he took her wrist as he led her to the Hall.

"I think I actually bit the bullet on this one," Felix said as he stood in front of the door, watching Phoenix's face. It was emotionless. She appeared to be mentally gone due to trauma. All the better for him, then.

But when the door swung open, it was Starscream and Prowl, neither of them looking very happy to see Felix, but both of them relaxed upon seeing Phoenix. She was pulled into Starscream's arms. Felix was pulled into stasis cuffs.

"In my defense, I brought her back."

"Tell it to someone who cares."

So Felix wound up in prison...again. This time with Dagger, who glared at him all through his medical examination. That glare turned into a death stare when it was revealed Dagger never had parasites _exactly_. He was carrying Felix's sparkling. Another sort of "parasite".

Under the glare of Dagger, Felix laid on his cot and hummed the next lines of his song before falling to sleep.

 _If heaven's grief brings hell's rain_

 _Then I'd trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday_

 _(I know I'm bad news)_

 _For just one yesterday_

 _(I saved it all for you)_

 _I want to teach you a lesson in the worst kind of way_

 _Still I'd trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday_

 _(I know I'm bad news)_

 _For just one yesterday_

 _(I saved it all for you)_

 _For just one yesterday_

The next day, there was Megatron sitting in front of Felix's cell, an actual leash in servo to be hooked to his cuffs. Megatron said he had some service to do.

"Since you wanted to help Phoenix so bad to get your credits, you can actually do it."

There was just one problem with that, of course.

"But, sire! You only taught me the basics of reading."

Felix didn't read a lot, just a handful of words he recognized and the rest he avoided. Writing was pretty much out of the question as well.

"I'm sure you'll do great."

Felix hated these times the most. Megatron had a fifty percent chance of not knowing he hated Felix and a fifty percent chance of knowing full well why he hated Felix. Well...maybe not _hate_ , exactly. Strongly dislike is how Megatron put it often.

"If you were more like Dagger who stayed out of trouble..."

Well, look where Dagger is now. Still glaring at Felix even as Megatron led him out. Dagger was to stay and get medical attention. Felix didn't want to return. Megatron didn't want to keep Felix around.

" _This_ time you're going to serve your time, which is probably another day or so. Starscream forgives you so long as you supply Phoenix with some answers. If not, he's doubling the charges."

Felix sighed and nodded and was taken to the very museum he stole Phoenix from. "Stole is putting it harshly. I simply escorted her out."

"The report says stole and almost raped."

"In my defense-"

"Just _read_ , Felix."

Felix turned back to the journals, sighing loudly at every page he flipped. Three theories came to mind, two of which he shared with Megatron. The first one was that Phoenix was a demon (that one was private). The other two was that her sire is a mech who paid Sketch to be kept out of the records or whose reputation was put on the line due to the news of Phoenix's birth.

And whose reputation was that?

The rules state very clearly that a Prime is not to have sparklings during skirmishes or war so that if the Prime's mate were to die or if he himself became pregnant, the Prime would have no distractions other than the war.

And the only problem with that theory was that-

"Optimus is dead."

"Killjoy," Felix snorted. "Well, Percy still has some of his Energon back at his lab, doesn't he?"

"Most likely."

But...that was a dead end. Not only was Phoenix not related to Optimus, she had no drop of Prime blood at all. She was "normal", as the cheery red mech fragging Starscream's younger brother put it. "Absolutely normal".

After that deadend, Felix was put back into his cell, Dagger tranqued enough that he wanted to be cuddled and was actually crying that he wasn't getting the attention he wanted. The Elite on duty (Ultra Magnus) showed a softer side (or was just annoyed) by pulling out the divider between their two cells, allowing Felix to give Dagger all the cuddles the mech could ever want or need.

Felix sang softly to him, the first three lines only. He didn't think the fourth would be a wise step.

But Dagger sang the last one, looking up at Felix and smirking.

Felix remained emotionless, but inside his spark hammered a little faster.

 _If I spilled my guts_

 _The world would never look at you the same way_

 _And now I'm here to give you all my love_

 _So I can watch your face as I take it all away, away, away, ay ay ay_

Starscream, as promised from the received information, dropped all charges. Dagger and Felix were let out to walk free.

"Can we go there?" Dagger asked, pointing with his free servo. The other was knitted with Felix's servo. The blue mech didn't wait for a reply and was already trying to tear off into the antique store. Felix could do little to stop him.

Everything was dusty and grimey and older than Megatron himself. There were statues of mechs and femmes long forgotten, figurines and dolls of the same legends of old, and there was jewelry that could turn to dust as soon as someone handled them a little too roughly, but Dagger wasn't interested in the pretty things. He was after the ugliest of the uglies. And he found it, jumping up and down and pointing.

"Felix! I want it! It's so fragging ugly!"

It was a jar of Energon, but the Energon was brown and blotchy on the inside. The jar was coated thickly in dust, and the lid was crusty with Energon. The mech behind the counter put on his thick-lensed glasses and took the jar down, reading the tag with the price and discription on it.

"Ah, Experiment 319. You know, I knew a mech who had this crazy idea. He died a few eons ago. Crazy mech. We called him Sketchy." The mech handed it off to Dagger and held out a servo to Felix, wanting payment. Felix sighed and took out a handful of credits.

"This is all I have, you scrounger."

"I'll take it. I haven't had an excited customer like him for years!"

Dagger looked so happy, Felix wondered if he peed himself.

While they were walking home, Felix had a thought. Sketchy? Experiment 319? Felix grabbed the jar, shook it a little, and then took the lid off, fishing around.

"Felix! What are you doing?!"

Felix's optics widened and he slowly removed his stained servo. Curled on his palm was the smallest of sparklings, cycling faintly and twitching. Dagger gasped and moved closer.

"Oh...look at him."

Felix dropped the jar in shock and cupped the sparkling, rubbing its helm with a thumb. "Contact Starscream."

The Seeker willingly forked over the machines he used for Phoenix under the condition that he got to visit it every day. Dagger attended the sparkling every few kliks, purring happily. Felix sat on the couch, watching his mate. How different to call this mech his mate. They already had two sparklings together.

The only one unhappy with the relationship was Phoenix, who had apparently had a minor surge of affection for the mech, even after all that he had done to her.

Primus, if only Felix could take it all back. He didn't want it to be this way at all. He wanted to be the spark-breaker he used to be, wanted to be the mech Megatron kept closer than a secret. He wanted to go back in time, back before his first job, way back before he even saw his first bountyhunter and got inspired.

He got up and walked to the sparkling, reaching down to touch its helm. It twitched. He sang to it. Dagger watched silently, holding a cube of Energon for Felix.

 _If heaven's grief brings hell's rain_

 _Then I'd trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday_

 _(I know I'm bad news)_

 _For just one yesterday_

 _(I saved it all for you)_

 _I want to teach you a lesson in the worst kind of way_

 _Still I'd trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday_

 _(I know I'm bad news)_

 _For just one yesterday_

 _(I saved it all for you)_

 _For just one yesterday._


End file.
